tion. The stem and branches remain stationary, until the roots, by the influence of a favourable season or two, sometimes force a new stem from the base of the stinted one, which in the course of one year overtops it, and becomes the stem or body of the tree; the original stem, taking the place of a secondary branch, soon disappears altogether. This is the invariable consequence when the growth of the plant, under these circumstances, is left to the unassisted efforts of nature--a fact upon which is founded the practice of cutting down to the surface of the ground stinted young plants, in order to produce superior stems, which always succeeds with the oak, chestnut, and ash, but never with coniferous trees of pine and fir. During the summer of the second year, the plants which have escaped the attacks of the enemies before alluded to will be strongly marked in the rows, and the horse-hoe may now in consequence be substituted for the hand-hoe: this will be found very beneficial as attaining the great objects of perfect weeding, pulverizing, and rendering friable and porous the surface of the soil at a diminished expense. The rows, however, will require to be looked over and handweeded with care.

Should the plants stand nearer to each other than one foot, they must be thinned out to that distance in the spring of the third year of their growth. In this process it is of the utmost importance that the smaller and least healthy looking plants should be taken out, and those left which indicate the possession of a vigorous constitution, without regard to the mere circumstance of exact distances. When a plant has a robust stem, clear bark, and a plump leading bud, we may consider it as certain to produce a fine tree, or to contend with most success against natural defects of soil and climate, and accidental injuries. To protect young oaks against uncongenial climates, the best method is to plant nurse-trees of quick growth, and well adapted to the soil, amongst them. An artificial climate is thus produced, and to a certain extent, also, the soil is ameliorated by the roots of these nurse-trees running near its surface, while the oak has its roots obtaining nourishment from below; the former, acting as drains, assist the growth of the oak, until its own roots and stem have acquired sufficient strength and dimensions to resist with effect the various unfavourable circumstances above alluded to. In soils suitable to oak this is not always necessary; but deficiencies of soil and climate are generally remedied by the judicious planting of nurse-trees, of which we shall treat more particularly hereafter. The keeping down of the weeds, and the pulverizing of the soil by the hoe, being unweariedly attended to, the young trees will make rapid progress, and will require to be thinned out to four or five feet on an average in the rows, in the fifth year from sowing, when they will have reached that period at which the opposite and more general practice, that of transplanting from seed beds to the timber sites, begins; and as the subsequent culture, pruning and thinning, is the same in both instances, to be treated of separately, we shall proceed to consider the rearing of forest trees by transplanting. No greater error exists in the planter's art than the doctrine that trees should be raised on the same quality of soil as that to which they are to be transplanted,—as if a robust, healthy plant were less likely to withstand its subsequent casualties of situation, soil, and local climate, than a weaker plant with contracted sap vessels-the invariable consequence of a poor seed-bed soil. What is the intention of all the various processes of culture which have been just described as essentially necessary to the raising of oak from the acorn on a damp, cold, clayey soil, but to enrich the soil, and render the seedling plants vigorous and healthy? and with how much less labour and expense can this be effected in a nursery bed of clean fresh soil, of whatever nature or texture, than on the extensive site of an intended plantation of forest trees?

L

Experience fully confirms that principle of vegetable physiology which teaches that robust, healthy plants, whether in the seedling stage of growth or of a larger size, succeed better than those of stinted growth, even when transplanted to the least favourable soil and exposure.

*

Where the land to be planted with forest-trees is an extensive tract and remotely situated, and where the seeds of the several kinds can be procured genuine, of good quality, and at a small cost, the formation of a private nursery may be advisable; but where the plants can be procured from a reasonable distance, it will be found the most economical and effective to purchase them from the nurseryman, and even in the former case one or two years' seedlings should be procured in place of seeds, as a saving of time and expense. The following are essential points to be considered in establishing an effective nursery: fencing, shelter, aspect, soil, and management. The fence of a forest-tree nursery requires to be rabbitproof, or loss and disappointment are almost certain to follow. A foundation of brick-work should be made for a superstructure of close paling. Where shelter is not an object, a very cheap and excellent substitute is found in iron wire-netting, which is manufactured for the general purposes of fences to young plants. Shelter is indispensable to the free growth of seedling plants, the injurious consequences resulting to which from sudden checks have already been mentioned, as also the bad effects of confined air to the health and prosperity of trees in every stage of growth; and therefore, at the same time that a full protection against cold, bleak winds and unfavourable aspects is necessary, a full and free circulation of atmospheric air must be secured, to allow of a well-grounded hope of

success.

The soil of the nursery must be of an intermediate quality as to moisture and dryness, not less than eighteen inches deep to the subsoil, and under a south, east, or west exposure, or intermediate points of these. The varieties of soil required for particular kinds of trees will have to be supplied where the natural soil is deficient, as has already been specified when speaking of the seeds of trees. (p. 13.)

Management. This head comprehends an ample degree of practical skill in the superintendent and workmen; the erection of proper sheds, the means of carriage for composts, soils, plants, &c., immediately when needed. A quantity of compost and different soils should always be in readiness when wanted for the seedling beds, layer stools, and cutting beds, and a proper assortment of nursery garden tools, which shall be specified hereafter. The preparation of the soil, the mode of sowing, and the different kinds of forest-tree seeds, have already been described. All kinds of forest trees, however, are not raised from seeds, either because

A

*It is difficult to give a definition of what is termed a robust, healthy plant, so as to apply to every species of tree wherein the habits of growth vary in every individual species. The points of excellence cannot be estimated statically, or by weight and measure, but comparatively. A number of minute discriminating characters, collectively, are readily distinguished by the eye, but when taken separately cannot be usefully described in words. robust, healthy plant, not exceeding five years' growth, may be said to have equally divided roots, the principal ones of moderate length well furnished with secondary rootlets, and these with numerous fibres; the stem straight, and possessing a girth or diameter proportionate to its length; the bark clean, with an epidermis on the young wood exhibiting fissures, as if bursting or giving way to the increasing size of the parenchyma, particularly in the season of spring or autumn; the buds full in size and not crowded; the leaves perfectly shaped, and of the natural colour. The opposite of this state, from the effects of a poor or ungenial soil, exhibits all these characteristics in a diminished form and number; the opposite extreme or unhealthy state of a plant, from the effects of overrichness of soil, may be supposed; for in our experience we have never met with an instance of the kind, to have all these parts of the structure in an enlarged excess.

they do not perfect a sufficient quantity for the general purposes of propagation, or are accidental varieties only of a species losing their characters of distinction when reproduced from seed. The following modes of propagation are found effectual when seeds cannot be obtained: first by suckers, second by layers, third by cuttings, and fourth by grafting.

1st. Suckers are shoots produced by the creeping roots of a tree, which, when separated from the parent root and transplanted, become perfect trees. They are generally sufficiently rooted in the first season of their production, and they should not be suffered to remain longer than two seasons attached to the root of the tree; for if continued longer, the support they derive from the parent root prevents them from making independent roots of their own in such abundance as they do when separated or taken up at an earlier period. The spring is the most proper season for taking them from the parent roots. When a sufficient number of rootlets appear on the sucker, no part of the root from whence the sucker sprang should be left attached to it; but where the proper rootlets are deficient in number, a small portion of the parent root may be left with advantage. The plants should be planted in rows in fresh soil, and treated in all respects afterwards as directed for seedling transplanted trees. The kinds of trees chiefly reared in this mode are:

The abele tree, Populus alba.

Common white poplar, Populus canescens.
Aspen, Populus tremula.

Chinese ailanthus, Ailanthus glandulosa.

The first three kinds may also be propagated by layers.

2nd. Layers. The process of layering is well known: it consists in bending a young branch (a, fig. 2) into the soil to a certain depth, and elevating the top part of it out of the soil in an upright direction; in time the buried part takes root, and the shoot becomes a perfect plant. The root which produces the young shoots for layering is called the stool. Stools are planted about six feet apart every way in a deep fresh soil. The stem at first is either bent down into the ground as a layer, or cut over a few inches from the root. The shoots which are produced from its sides form

fig. 2.

the layers (d). The rooting of the layers is much facilitated by obstructing in part the descending sap; this is essential to some kinds of layers, though not to all: the common laurel, privet, &c., strike root readily without any artificial stoppage of the descending sap. The most expeditious mode of effecting this, is to cut a notch, slanting upwards to the origin of the layer, about half a diameter in length (f), and securing the position of the layer in the ground by a wooden peg (g). Where the shoot is of a nature that roots with difficulty, it is useful to split the tongue of the notch half way up, and to insert a small wedge of potsherd or wood to keep the division open. Rings of wire are also sometimes used for the same purpose, and cutting the bark round the part to within a little of the complete circumference of the shoot. In all ordinary cases, however, the slit or notching mode is perfectly effective. The ground should be kept quite clean of weeds, and watered in dry weather. When sufficiently rooted, the layers should be carefully cut away from the shoots, with all the fibrous roots attached to them, and planted in rows in fresh, well-prepared soil. The stools should have all the stumps of the branches cut away, and left to produce a fresh

series of shoots for next autumn's layering. The following trees are propagated by layers.

Maple, silver striped maple, Acer campestre, fol. arg.

Sir G. Wager's, A. dasycarpum.

bastard, A. hybridum.

lobe leaved, A. lobatum.
mountain, A. montanum.
ash leaved, A. negundo.
Italian, A. opalus.

striped barked, A. Pennsylvanicum.
cut leaved, A. platanoides laciniatum.
gold striped, A. pseudoplatanus, fol. aur.
silver striped, A. pseudoplat. fol. arg.
Tartarian, A. Tartaricum.

Montpellier, A. monspessulanum.
Alder, cut leaved, Alnus laciniata.
oak leaved, Al. quercifolia.

prickly leaved, Al. glutinosa spinulosa.
Turkey, Al. oblongata.

oval leaved, Al. oblong. elliptica.
Birch, daurian, Betula daurica.

Canada, B. lenta.

black, B. nigra.

paper, B.

papyracea

poplar leaved, B. populifolia.

red, B. rubra.

Hornbeam, cut leaved, Carpinus bet. incisa.

Judas tree, American white flowered, Cercis silig. f. alba.
Date plum tree, Diospyrus lotus.

Spindle tree.

gold blotched, Euonymus Europ. fol. aur.
silver, fol. arg.

white, fruc. alb.

pale, fruc. pal.*

Beech, broad leaved, Fagus ferruginea.

purple leaved, F. sylvatica purpurea.
copper leaved, F. sylvatica cuprea.†

Ash, weeping Fraxinus pendula.‡
curled leaved ash, F. atra
flowering ash, F. ornus.

manna ash, F. rotundifolia.
striped barked ash, F. striata.

Mulberry, white, Morus alba.

common, M. nigra.

Tufelo tree, Nyssa aquatica.
mountain, N. montana.
Bird cherry, Prunus padus.
Cornish, P. pad. rubra.

Buckthorn, sea, Rhamnus catharticus.·

Lime tree, white, Tilia alba.

broad leaved, T. Americana.

*These four trees are of low growth, and only for ornament

+ Propagated also by grafting.

When grafted on the common or tall ash, the pendulous branches have a striking effect.

common, T. Europæa.

red twigged, T. Europ. corallina.
downy leaved, T. pubescens.
Elm, English, U. campestris.
striped leaved, U. fol. var.
Cornish, U. sativa.

hornbeam, leaved U. nemoralis.
Dutch, U. suberosa.

3rd. Cuttings.-Shoots of one year's growth are the most proper to be used in this mode of propagating several kinds of forest trees. The shoots should be selected from the most healthy and free-grown branches, and cut into lengths of from six to eighteen inches, according to the kind of tree. If evergreens (a, fig. 3), the leaves should be cut off half way up from the root-end of the cutting (b). Deciduous trees should have shed their leaves before the cuttings (c) are taken from them. The root-ends of the cuttings should be cut finely smooth, and inserted from about a half to three parts of their length into the soil. For every species of cutting, the soil should be light, and composed, at least, of half of fine siliceous sand. There are many species of exotic plants, whose cuttings will only strike root in pure siliceous sand. It need hardly be Fig. 3. remarked, that in this mode of propagating, watering is more particularly required to be attended to than in any other. The utility of the sandy nature of the soil consists in its retaining no stagnant moisture, but just sufficient for the wants of the shoot during the process of rooting. As soon as the cuttings are well rooted, if in a light soil of the above description, they should be carefully taken up and transplanted to their proper soil; for although the shoots produce roots more quickly and in greater abundance in the siliceous sandy soil, yet it is unable to support the growth of the plant after the proper functions of the roots begin. Next to that of propagation by seeds, plants may be increased by cuttings more generally than by any other mode: the prohowever, requires more time, skill, and attention, than is demanded for rearing trees from suckers, or by layers or grafting, and it is therefore chiefly practised for the increase of exotic ornamental plants; but the following forest trees are most advantageously raised from cuttings :

cess,

Plane, American, Platanus occidentalis.

Spanish var., P. acerifolia.

Oriental, P. orientalis.

waved leaved, P. cuneata.

Poplar, Carolina, Populus Carolina

Lombardy, P. dilatata.

Athenian, P. Græca.

Canadian, P. monolifera.

black, P. nigra.

weeping, P. pendula.

trembling, P. tremula.

Maiden-hair tree, Salisburia adiantifolia.
Willow tree, common, Salix alba.

Peach leaved, Amygdalina.